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Sarah J. Maas

I’m in love with Sartaq! Could there be a more perfect man? He’s prince of a kingdom that I would equate to Alexandria, Egypt in ancient times and from the description that the author gave of the people of the land, I pictured a gorgeous, dark eyed, Middle-Eastern man. He’s called The Winged Prince because he leads a squadron of rukhin, men who live on the highest peaks of the land and ride giant predatory birds called ruks. He said two things to Nesryn in this book that wreaked havoc on my emotions. I can’t tell you what they were without giving away spoilers but the first one sent chills down my spine and the second had me bawling. He’s my new book boyfriend.

His brother, Kashin, wasn’t bad either but his puppy-dog love for Yrene and the way he obeyed his father without question put him out of the running for a book boyfriend. But is it bad that I wanted Kashin to win over Yrene instead of the leading male character, Chaol?

If you follow the series, you would know that the last book ended with the heroine of the story, Aelin, being captured by the evil Fae queen, Maeve.

This book wasn’t about Aelin. Well, it was but did not feature her directly. This book focused on Chaol and Nesryn who were sent off to Antica, a continent across the narrow sea to the south by King Dorian so that Chaol could find a healer for his broken back.

This story happens concurrently with the last story so Chaol and Nesryn aren’t privy to what the reader already knows and find out as they occur.

Chaol was hit in the back with the powerful evil magic of the King of Adarlan while he was possessed by a Valg prince and now Chaol’s legs do not work. Chaol was Captain of the King’s Guard but Dorian made him tge Hand of the King and made Nesryn the Captain of the King’s Guard.

Nesryn and Chaol are lovers but something cooled between them on the three week ride across the sea. Chaol became an asshole, brooding on his injuries and pushed Nesryn away. I really stopped liking Chaol so much in this book.

Healing his back isn’t their only goal. They need to get the Great Khagan to join them in the war but he won’t even have an audience with them because he’s in mourning for his youngest daughter who “jumped” from a terrace.Their arrival couldn’t have come at a worse time.

This was the best book of the series so far. It could have done without the tedious healing scenes or, at least, less of them but that didn’t make me enjoy this book any less.

I always forget how much I enjoy this series until I start reading it again. It’s not that it’s forgettable, it’s just that it isn’t my usual genre so it gets lost in the shuffle. If that makes any sense.

I wasn’t digging the lead character, Feyre, in the beginning of this book. She was out for revenge on Tamlin, the High Lord of the Spring Court, because she thinks he was responsible for her sisters being captured and put into the Cauldron by the King of Hybern. And he was responsible to a point but only because he loved her and thought she loved him back. He believed she’d been kidnapped by Rhysand, the High Lord of Night Court who everyone thinks is cruel and evil thanks to the image that Rhysand himself has put out to the world to protect his people. Tamlin had no clue Feyre had fallen in love with Rhys nor did he know that Rhys was the exact opposite of what he portrays. Feyre had only sent him a short message telling him she was okay and not to look for her but anyone who loves someone would not give up in them just based on a short note that she could have been forced to write.

Tamlin did make some mistakes but her revenge was petty and stupid in my eyes.

My opinion of her improved over the rest of the book but I have never really connected to Feyre. She is not the reason I like this series. It is the story line and the other characters like Rhysand, Cassian, Mor, Lucien and especially Azriel. I even like Tamlin, probably more than Feyre.

In this book, all the courts are gearing up for war with the King of Hybern who apparently has no real name or if he does, it was never mentioned in the book. His power, along with the Cauldron is unparalleled so it will take a miracle to beat him. Some of the courts may side with Hybern so Feyre is trying to convince them otherwise.

This book delves in deeper to some of the character’s personalities and backgrounds. There are some developing romances too.

This is definitely a series that I recommend for fantasy and paranormal romance readers.

It’s been a little while since I have read the last Throne of Glass book so I had to get reacquainted with the story and characters while I was reading it. I was a little confused at first because it started out with Queen Elena Havilliard nee Galathynius and her husband Galan in a battle against Erawan, the evil dark lord from another realm, that they could not win. He was slaughtering them. I was confused because the title of the chapter was called “Nightfall” so I was not aware that this was actually the prologue until I realized this was a flashback from a long time ago. Elena has an idea to save her people but the prologue cuts off and Chapter One begins.

The series follows a young woman named Aelin Galathynius who started out in life as the heir to her kingdom, Terrasen. Unbeknownst to Aelin, there is a prophesy that says she will somehow save the world but before anyone can tell her this, her family was slaughtered by evil forces when she was just a girl and she barely got away by running and falling into a river. She was found by the King of the Assassin’s Guild, Arobyn Hamel, and trained as an assassin under an assumed identity. Apparently, in this world, assassins are acceptable.

When Terrasen fell, so did magic and all Fae and magic wielders were either hunted down and killed or they left the continent which was now being ruled by the King of Adarlan.

Somehow Aelin ends up being captured and sent to work in the Salt Mines of Endovier where most prisoners die within a few months. I can’t for the life of me remember how she ended up there. She gets a break when the King of Adarlan’s son, Dorian Havilliard, decides to choose her as his father’s champion in some sick competition similar to the gladiator games in Rome.

She ends up winning but learns of a sinister plot while she is there. I’m not going to go into details because that would take forever. I will just give a short recap. The King of Adarlan is controlled by demon from another realm named Erawan. The King of Adarlan was responsible for the loss of magic throughout the continent. He had erected three towers around the lands that controlled which Aelin eventually destroyed along with the King of Adarlan but Erawan had been busy in the last ten years by experimenting on people and animals, putting stones called Wyrdstones in them and creating monstrous creatures to fight against the Fae and anyone who might go against him. He also aligned himself with the three clans of Ironteeth Witches who ride on flying wyverns.

Aelin finds out that the only way to get rid of Erawan who there are three pieces of stone called Wyrdkeys that somehow can be used to open portals called Wyrdgates to banish Erawan where he can be killed. Aelin has now been traveling all over the country, trying to find these Wyrdkeys before Erawan can kill her.

In this book, she is traveling with the few people she can trust to Terrasen. She has her cousin, Aedion, who used to be the general of a large army called the Bane for the King of Adarlan. The Bane is still loyal to him although, so far in this book, I have yet to see the Bane anywhere near Aedion or Aelin. She also has Rowan traveling with her. Rowan is not quite her lover yet but is definitely the one she loves and may even be her mate being that she is half Fae and he is full Fae. Rowan is one of the most powerful Fae alive. He may even be the most powerful Fae alive. He can turn into a hawk whenever he chooses and he has his magical gift. Lysandra and Evangeline finish out the group. Lysandra is a shapeshifter who was used by Arobyn who made her be a prostitute to get information from people he did business with and from his enemies. Evangeline is a girl who Lysandra took under her wing.

Aedion, who had grown up in Terrasen, sets up a meeting between Aelin and one of the lords of Terrasen, Lord Darrow, to get a feel for how Aelin will be accepted back in her kingdom. It doesn’t go well, mostly because Darrow likes acting as an unnamed king in her absence, but he his excuse is that she is too young and has no allies. He suggests that she should get married to a king or nobleman from another territory to get allies. He tells her that until she comes up with allies or a large army behind her, she will not be welcomed in Terrasen so she sets off to find some allies.

Aelin has another enemy besides Erawan. The Queen of the Fae in another continent across the sea is no fan of Aelin. She met Queen Maeve when she went across the ocean on a mission. Maeve is a cruel queen who rules by intimidation. She has her own agenda and wants the Wyrdkeys too but not to banish Erawan but to wield them and use their dark power. A world ruled by Maeve would be just as bad as a world ruled by Erawan.

Aelin and her friends have learned that Maeve has now set sail towards Erilea, Aelin’s continent.

At one point in this book, I became a little frustrated. Aelin and her friends had been traveling from one place to another. You know how it goes. They go one place and face a threat just to discover they have to go to another place and face another threat. I was starting to think the whole book was just an action adventure with no point just to extend the series; what I like to call filler. But I was pleasantly surprised by the end results…maybe not pleasantly because some things weren’t so great but, at least,